The Maharashtra Food and Drug Administration has initiated action against Bollywood actors Ajay Devgn, Shah Rukh Khan and Tiger Shroff, questioning their participation in an advertisement for Vimal Elaichi.

The regulator has issued show-cause notices to the three actors, asking them to clarify their involvement in the promotional campaign. According to the FDA, the manner in which the brand is presented could potentially amount to surrogate advertising for Vimal Pan Masala, which is currently prohibited in Maharashtra.

The notices reportedly point to the advertisement's branding, dialogue and overall presentation, arguing that these elements could create an association with a pan masala product despite the advertisement being presented as a promotion for elaichi.

FDA EXAMINES POSSIBLE INDIRECT PROMOTION

The Maharashtra FDA said the matter is significant because it is examining the advertisement from the perspective of surrogate promotion. The regulator believes the branding and its association with Vimal Pan Masala warrant scrutiny under the Food Safety and Standards Act, 2006.

The action follows Maharashtra's intensified campaign against the manufacture, sale, distribution and promotion of tobacco and nicotine-containing products.

Pan masala containing tobacco or nicotine and gutkha have been prohibited in Maharashtra for several years. The FDA has recently stepped up enforcement against businesses involved in the trade of such products.

ACTORS ASKED TO EXPLAIN THEIR ROLE

Devgn, Khan and Shroff appeared in the advertisement as brand endorsers. The notices seek their responses regarding their participation and the nature of the promotion.

The regulator has invoked Section 24 of the Food Safety and Standards Act, which deals with misleading advertisements relating to food products.

It has also referred to Section 53, under which a person involved in publishing a misleading food advertisement can face a penalty that may extend to ₹10 lakh.

MAHARASHTRA STEPS UP ACTION AGAINST BANNED PRODUCTS

The FDA's broader crackdown has also involved coordination with law-enforcement agencies in cases concerning organised distribution networks dealing in gutkha, tobacco and nicotine-containing pan masala.

The regulator has indicated that promotional activities associated with prohibited products will also come under greater scrutiny.

The show-cause notices issued to the three actors now put the spotlight on the legal boundaries surrounding celebrity endorsements and surrogate advertising, particularly when a brand is closely associated with a product prohibited by state authorities.